Sciatica - anything I can do?

[superdeeduper]

I believe my sciatica has developed due to carrying all 3 children on my left hip when they were little. It did get better once they were too big for this however I've found that since last year it has started again and been more frequent.

The pain can be anywhere from my buttock to my calf, with my knee feeling like it is swollen although there is no sign of swelling.

I wondered if seeing a chiropractor would help to get my body back into re-alignmentafter 4 pregnancies and carrying children around. No experience with this kind of thing tho so any advice would be great.

My mum has a cortisone injection every six months or so
she also swims every day which helps enormously

I'd get a GP referral to a physio or other specialist.

I went to a physio for this exact same thing.

It turns out to be sacro-iliac inflammation pressing on the sciatic nerve. He gave me some exercises to do everyday and treated me for a while at the practice. All of which has helped a lot in reducing the sciatica.

Yoga is brilliant for sciatica.

Thanks for the replies. Yoga sounds great but I don't have the opportunity to get out and join a class.

Doozle can I ask what kind of exercises you were given? And am I right in thinking that it could be down to pregnancy/inappropriate carrying etc?

Yes absolutely down to pregnancy and lifting children. Apparently the joints/ligaments loosen in pregnancy/childbirth and then carrying children adds to the stress on those joints.

The exercises were drawn up for me specifically but involves moving back muscles, keeping certain joints mobilised, sit ups etc. Takes me about 5 mins each day and really keeps the problem at bay.

Although you should really see a physio as your particular sciatica might be aggravated by a different problem so there might be a different approach for you.

Oh and yes have to really work at not doing very much lifting anymore (of any kind) and avoid doing weights or high impact exercise at the gym etc.

tbh i think you might have just found the problem in the comment 'I don't have the opportunity to get out and join a class'... I speak from bitter experience that there comes a point where your physical health has to start being in the top 2 day-to-day priorities and everything else has to give. Ageing bodies only get harder to crank back up to 'shipshape' the longer you leave it unfortunately. Not what you want to hear I know. The daily exercises - definitely, get some from a good physio. But it sounds possible that you have to up your game in terms of physical fitness as well. Everybody else in your life is going to have to shuffle along and make some time for you to get to yoga/pilates/whatever works, because it's going to be a lifelong commitment to overcoming whatever weaknesses have developed, rather than a quick burst of seeing a chiro and off you go.

I am saying this as somebody who STILL hasn't committed to going to that weekly class and does her daily exercises about once a week! Living in denial (and regular flare-ups) that is tho... So please say all this back to me!!

I had sciatica quite badly after I had DS1. I was terrified carrying him as my knee used to give out, usually half way down the stairs. Not to mention the agony.

I had a cordal epidural in 2001 and I haven't suffered from sciatica since. I thinks it is usually used as a last resort but for me I had it done 9 months after the pain first started. It left a small numb patch at the base of my spine which took two years to wear off.